GAMES: GameSpot | GameFAQs MUSIC: Last.fm | MP3.com MOVIES: Metacritic | Movietome TV: TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games TV

Music

Upcoming Release Calendar
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Music In Our Forums

 

Upcoming & Recent Releases

sort by name sort by score

64 A Camp
78 Akron/Family
73 Dave Alvin & the Guilty Women
74 Amazing Baby
62 Tori Amos
54 The Answer
74 Anti-Flag
74 Art Brut
71 Au Revoir Simone
65 Zee Avi
70 Bachelorette
77 Bat For Lashes
68 Big Business
76 Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses
67 Black Dice
57 Black Eyed Peas
74 Black Moth Super Rainbow
71 Blank Dogs
65 Booker T.
54 The Boxmasters
65 The Boy Least Likely To
74 Brakes [aka brakesbrakesbrakes]
68 British Sea Power
66 Jeff Buckley
75 Busdriver
59 Busta Rhymes
64 Cage The Elephant
82 Bill Callahan
80 Camera Obscura
68 Cam'ron
79 Casiotone For The Painfully Alone
58 Chester French
82 The Church
61 Ciara
72 Clues
69 The Coathangers
74 Jarvis Cocker
90 Leonard Cohen
70 Elvis Costello
66 Graham Coxon
76 Crippled Black Phoenix
71 The Crocodiles
69 Cryptacize
71 Crystal Antlers
56 The Crystal Method
69 Dananananaykroyd
76 Danger Mouse And Sparklehorse
71 De La Soul
77 Death Cab For Cutie
68 Deer Tick
81 Deerhunter
70 Depeche Mode
78 Dinosaur Jr.
85 Dirty Projectors
86 DJ Quik & Kurupt
77 Doves
68 Dredg
76 Bob Dylan
82 Steve Earle
70 Eels
62 El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez
58 Eminem
60 Empire Of The Sun
54 The Enemy
67 Jeremy Enigk
68 Nathan Fake
85 The Felice Brothers
79 The Field
65 Fink
60 Fischerspooner
77 Flatlanders
62 Flo Rida
64 Franz Ferdinand
77 Gallows
72 Melody Gardot
59 Ginuwine
71 Golden Silvers
61 Gomez
69 Grand Duchy
73 Great Lake Swimmers
59 Great Northern
72 Green Day
86 Grizzly Bear
75 The Handsome Family
69 Ben Harper And Relentless7
75 PJ Harvey & John Parish
66 Heaven & Hell
85 Levon Helm
74 The Hold Steady
79 Patterson Hood
75 Jon Hopkins
82 The Horrors
69 Hanne Hukkelberg
74 Ida Maria
65 Immaculate Machine
75 The Intelligence
76 Iron & Wine
79 Isis
68 It Hugs Back
88 J Dilla aka Jay Dee
61 Jadakiss
86 Japandroids
61 Joan Of Arc
84 Joe Lovano Us Five
72 John Doe & The Sadies
70 Joker's Daughter
62 Jonas Brothers
53 Mike Jones
71 The Juan Maclean
76 Junior Boys
68 Kasabian
74 Diana Krall
56 Lady Sovereign
43 Ben Lee
68 The Lemonheads
76 Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard
77 Lindstrom & Prins Thomas
65 Little Boots
79 The Low Anthem
67 Jason Lytle
75 The Maccabees
76 Magik Markers
80 Major Lazer
70 Malajube
71 Manchester Orchestra
85 Manic Street Preachers
57 Marilyn Manson
66 The Mars Volta
68 Dave Matthews Band
62 Maximo Park
70 Meat Puppets
80 Method Man & Redman
77 Metric
75 Micachu & The Shapes
69 Chrisette Michele
76 Miike Snow
67 Mika Miko
75 Rhett Miller
49 Mims
72 Mr. Lif
72 Moby
78 Moderat
70 Mandy Moore
80 Mos Def
70 Bob Mould
74 Nadja
72 New York Dolls
72 Nite Jewel
67 NOFX
76 Noisettes
60 Paolo Nutini
67 Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band
74 Papercuts
76 Passion Pit
74 Peaches
71 Pet Shop Boys
68 Peter Bjorn And John
82 Phoenix
76 Pink Mountaintops
63 Placebo
66 Pomegranates
64 Iggy Pop
67 Prefuse 73
81 Ramblin' Jack Elliott
76 Rancid
54 Rascal Flatts
68 Lionel Richie
77 Alasdair Roberts
73 Rick Ross
55 Asher Roth
72 Savath & Savalas
61 Polly Scattergood
65 The Shortwave Set
60 Shout Out Out Out Out
66 Silversun Pickups
85 Todd Snider
78 Sonic Youth
72 The Soundcarriers
61 The Sounds
74 Regina Spektor
63 Spinal Tap
65 Spinnerette
81 St. Vincent
59 Still Flyin'
58 Street Sweeper Social Club
87 Sunn O)))
82 Sunset Rubdown
84 Super Furry Animals
74 Richard Swift
78 Taking Back Sunday
85 Tanya Morgan
81 Otis Taylor
71 Telekinesis
70 Telepathe
80 Thee Oh Sees
79 The Thermals
74 Rob Thomas
64 Thunderheist
74 Tiga
57 Tinted Windows
72 Tortoise
82 Allen Toussaint
71 Trembling Bells
69 Two Fingers
84 UGK
68 Keith Urban
71 John Vanderslice
85 The Vaselines
74 The Veils
73 Viva Voce
63 Patrick Watson
79 White Denim
77 White Rabbits
57 The Whitest Boy Alive
74 Wilco
80 Wildbirds & Peacedrums
78 Wolves In The Throne Room
65 The Wooden Birds
67 Wooden Shjips
81 Yeah Yeah Yeahs
70 Pete Yorn
93 Neil Young
60 Neil Young
72 Yusuf

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

 



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Saturdays=Youth
by M83

M83 reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 70 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.2 out of 10
based on 29 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 28 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

The fifth album for the French electronic group led by Anthony Gonzalez was produced with Ken Thomas and Ewan Pearson.

LABEL: Mute
RELEASE DATE: 15 April 2008
DISCS: 1 disc
GENRE(S): Rock, Indie, Electronic

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
The Onion (A.V. Club)
For all the awe kindled by the effectively perfect sound in a transcendent highlight like 'Kim & Jessie,' the real triumph is that M83 uses such a setting for more simple melody and emotion than ever before.
Read Full Review
90
Under The Radar
Saturdays=Youth contains some of the band's best songs to date. [Spring 2008, p.77]
85
Pitchfork
Saturdays=Youth meaningfully diversifies M83's catalog while retaining Gonzalez's indelible fingerprint.
Read Full Review
84
cokemachineglow
Of course it’s cheeseball, as we all were at that age. But that’s ultimately what makes this accessible, highly-listenable album a reinvigoration of both catalogue and genre.
Read Full Review
82
Lost At Sea
Like it or not, the 1980s are part of who we are and Gonzales' homage to the decade is the closest thing to perfect he's achieved.
Read Full Review
80
No Ripcord
Nonetheless, Saturdays = Youth finds itself in the higher echelons of '08 so far for radically different reasons, and, unpredictedly, it wouldn't be too surprising if M83's decision to avoid making a by-the-numbers album saw those overdue dividends finally reaching them.
Read Full Review
80
Paste Magazine
The clear standout, though, is 'Kim & Jessie,' which convincingly recaptures the magic gloss of Tears for Fears with a propulsive undercurrent and an elegant use of space. One of the best songs of 2008 so far, it’s the key destination in a stunning journey.
Read Full Review
80
Delusions of Adequacy
Fans of previous M83 albums should still enjoy Saturdays as it doesn't veer too far from the template established on the past few albums.
Read Full Review
80
Magnet
On fourth album Saturdays=Youth, the warm synthesizers are still in play and Gonzalez’s propensity for beguiling bombast is undiminished, but by imposing structure and melodic discipline on these sprawling compositions, he’s made them even more elegant and effective.
Read Full Review
80
All Music Guide
As super-stylized as its sounds and emotions are, Saturdays=Youth always seems genuine, even when it feels like its songs are made from the memories of other songs.
Read Full Review
80
Slant Magazine
And though analog synthesizer remains definitional of the M83's sound, they open the arrangements to include more naturalistic instrumentation as well. The approach allows this band named for a galaxy to seem more grounded, and yet more universal, than ever before.
Read Full Review
75
The Phoenix
This is an album steeped in a generation’s worth of nostalgia, but unlike most rehashed coming-of-age exercises, Saturdays = Youth manages, in its own small way, to offer something entirely new.
Read Full Review
70
Village Voice
Anthony Gonzalez nurtures nostalgia but isn't enslaved by it, and Saturdays=Youth teems with equal parts ache and pomp as a result.
Read Full Review
70
Blender
Filled with ambitious production and winsome nostalgia, Saturdays is an otherworldly chronicle of adolescence only a starry-eyed 20-something could make.
Read Full Review
70
Billboard
Though nothing quite reaches the heights of past work, there's ambience to spare on "We Own the Night" and the lush "Highway of Endless Dreams."
Read Full Review
70
Drowned In Sound
Predictably there’s a slide towards more abstracted material toward the latter half, and parts of Saturdays=Youth are all hairspray and no body, but the whole thing sweeps along with such an irrepressible mix of youthful invincibility (‘We Own The Sky’) and flouncing fatalism (‘Too Late’, ‘Graveyard Girl’) it sucks the wind right out of your cheeks before you’ve had chance to huff.
Read Full Review
70
Alternative Press
M83's latest flight into the synthesized stratosphere is so steeped in '80s influence, it;s as if teen filmmaker John Hughes was lurking behind the keyboards. [June 2008, p.137]
68
Almost Cool
If you go back to the touchpoints of the era in terms of music, there's certainly plenty of awful lyrics, and while I can often overlook lyrics if the music itself is strong, Saturdays = Youth sometimes lapses into a sort of emo shoegazer feel that's simply a bit too sickly-sweet for me.
Read Full Review
60
musicOMH.com
A real mixed bag, then--M83 still show plenty of guile and in their best moments present music of hidden power and grace.
Read Full Review
60
NOW Magazine
Surprisingly, the least pop-based tracks stand out most.
Read Full Review
60
The Guardian
To call Saturdays=Youth derivative is to pay it a compliment, because every retro synth sounds calibrated to provide the maximum nostalgic rush.
Read Full Review
60
Under The Radar
[A] disappointment. [Spring 2008, p.77]
60
PopMatters
So Saturdays=Youth isn’t an unqualified success, and probably won’t be as warmly welcomed by fans as M83’s previous albums have been. Still, there are plenty of moments on the disc that remind you why this pulsing, layered music is so powerful.
Read Full Review
50
Spin
M83 needs to step out of the '80s, and back into the future. [Apr 2008, p.100]
Read Full Review
50
Urb
M83's new effort saunters like a slow dance from "Sixteen Candles." [Mar/Apr 2008, p.109]
Read Full Review
50
Dusted Magazine
With the exception of the engorged 'Couleurs,' 'Dark Moves of Love's' lift into the stratosphere, and the ambient feather-on-the-breath drones of 'Midnight Souls Still Remain,' Saturdays = Youth is strangely leaden, an album fenced off by its conceptual constraints.
Read Full Review
40
Uncut
Saturdays=Youth is embarrassingly earnest. [May 2008, p.102]
40
Tiny Mix Tapes
I’m deflated again, as all Gonzalez does with this blank canvas for electronic experimentation is cycle two chords over and over with a little synth sprinkled on top.
Read Full Review
40
Q Magazine
Halfway through, though, Gonzalez's self-indulgence gets the better of him and you're left with half-baked ideas and little else. [June 2008, p.145]

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this album is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 28 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Adam P. gave it an8:
I dig the mixing and the sonic textures, but it seems like my fellow indie-music-philes overrate this album just a tad. Off the top of my head I can think of more than 30 albums released in 2008 that were better than this one.

Andre C. gave it a10:
Stellar album - a fantastic and beautiful journey.

Hector gave it a0:
This album sucks. There are maybe one to three good songs in it but it fully supports why I'm all about Limewire and downloading before buying an album. This is the most useless thing I've ever bought. This band supposedly had so much promise when I read some of the reviews. There is no nostalgia here, there is no artistry here, just a bunch of cliché, over sentimental lyrics that attempt at emotional blackmail so that one may warm up and not be so harsh towards this. There are musicians that have not been sign to the same scale as this band has that deserve far more attention. This albums as though Stacy Q, or Kylie Minogue or Madonna attempted to make a Shoegaze record in 1985. I want my money back. Or at least go into the record store and exchange it for something better. However, I’ve learned my lesson… download before buying. No matter what self-righteous, holier than thou people, who spout the theft propaganda might say.

Erok J gave it a7:
I'd have to say I like maybe 4 or 5 songs on the album. I liked alot of where before the dawn heals us, but this is getting a little too vocal and "regular". Not enough substance to be that big of an album.

Joen h. gave it a10:
Outstanding album. Takes a few listens to properly sink in.

Eric C. gave it a9:
I know a ton of people who look back on the 80s in shame and declare that there was no art or beauty to be found there. They hear the over-the-top emotion and massive sounds and shake their heads. And when they hear this album, they might gag at the sound of heavy synths and the bleak and youthful lyrics. When I listened to Saturdays=Youth, I heard some moments of heart-racing beauty that I haven't heard since the Arcade Fire's Funeral (I should probably stop comparing everything to the Arcade Fire). Maybe Gonzalez set out to make an album built on 80s nostalgia. But what he ended up making was a heart wrenching album of youth that should be relevant to not only those who grew up in the 80s, but those who grew up in the 90s and who are growing up now. I'm 18 and grew up in the new century, and this is one of the most emotionally relevant albums I've heard in a while. Shrug it off as cheesy nonsense that deserves to lie in the mass grave of 80s culture. Personally, I think everyone should atleast hear it once, so we can celebrate who we were, who we became, and who we are still becoming. And I don't care if that sounds cheesy.

Aristotle X gave it a9:
I am in total agreement with Damian. After Before the Dawn Heals Us, what new avenue could M83 possibly explore? It would be nearly impossible to produce an album with more emotional intensity than BTDHU. This new album certainly will divide, not only critics, but many fans as well. It contains some tracks that are instantly appealing and others that are gradually absorbed until you find yourself humming them throughout your workday (i.e. the last 2 minutes of "We Own the Sky"). Although Gonzalez uses many of the best elements of 80s music, the influences never feel forced or awkward. One reviewer aptly referred to the new M83, as the best 80s album never made. Fans who need M83 to sound like a Nascar PS3 soundtrack will probably be disappointed. But those who can appreciate the finesse required to cut a fantastic pop record will find much to appreciate.

Read more user comments...

Discuss this album in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

Popular on CBS sites: iPhone 3G | Fantasy Football | Moneywatch | Antivirus Software | Recipes | E3 2009

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use